Top diplomats from “the Quad” group of nations on Monday pledged to boost maritime security in the Indo-Pacific region as they criticized what they called the “militarization” of the disputed South China Sea, in a move seen as targeting China's growing assertiveness in the strategic waterway.
In a joint statement following a meeting in Tokyo, the officials from Australia, Japan, India and the United States expressed “serious concern” about “coercive and intimidating maneuvers,” the “dangerous use” of coast guard and maritime militia vessels, as well as efforts to “disrupt” other countries’ offshore resource exploitation activities.
The criticism came as the Quad diplomats sought to present a united front amid heightened tensions between China and the Philippines, a U.S. ally, over maritime disputes.
The officials, however, did not directly single out Beijing, either in their joint news conference or a joint statement released later, in an apparent sign that they hoped to avoid overly aggravating the economic powerhouse — one of all four countries’ largest trading partners.
The gathering took place a day ahead of talks in Manila between the U.S. and Philippine defense chiefs and top diplomats, a meeting that is expected to result in a series of measures to further expand the alliance as well as bolster Manila’s military capabilities.
Beijing claims most of the South China Sea, including the Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal, but rejects any involvement by nonclaimant states — including Quad nations — in territorial disputes.
Beijing and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have been working for two decades to conclude a substantive code of conduct based on the international law of the seas. But the two sides have been at loggerheads mainly due to differences over which maritime areas the code should cover and whether it would include foreign vessels.
China prefers bilateral negotiations with the other claimants, but some of its neighbors, as well as rivals such as the United States, argue that China's size and clout give it an unfair advantage in such negotiations.
The Quad — one of several U.S.-led "minilateral" groupings in the region — also expressed concerns about developments in the East China Sea, where Japan and China are embroiled in a worsening spat over the Japanese-controlled but Chinese-claimed Senkaku Islands, which Beijing calls the Diaoyu.
China has sent government vessels in and around the islands in record numbers in recent years. Quad diplomats on Monday reiterated their opposition to these types of unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo by force or coercion.
Meanwhile, the top diplomats announced a series of initiatives to help maintain a "free and open maritime order.” These include enhancing the “maritime domain awareness” of partners in the Pacific, a reference to the effective understanding of anything associated with the maritime domain that could impact security, safety, the economy or the marine environment.
The Quad intends to do this via the sharing of satellite data, training and capacity building, as well as the launching of a maritime legal dialogue. They will also geographically expand the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA) to the Indian Ocean.
First announced in 2022, IMPDA is meant to provide near-real time and integrated maritime domain data to maritime agencies in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
The aim is to improve Indo-Pacific countries’ ability to counter illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and respond to climate change and natural disasters, while also enforcing the law near their shores.
“We are working for early operationalization of the South Asia program through the Information Fusion Center-Indian Ocean Region in Gurugram, India,” the Quad diplomats said.
“What does this mean? It means strengthening the capacity of partners across the region to know what's happening in their own waters,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, adding that Washington would continue to work with its partners to “ensure freedom of navigation, overflight and the unimpeded flow of lawful maritime commerce.”
At the same time, the partners vowed to step up capacity-building efforts to bolster health security, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, infrastructure and connectivity, including the ongoing deployment of the Open Radio Access Network in Palau, as well as cybersecurity in the Philippines.
In remarks at the start of the meeting, Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa warned that the Indo-Pacific was especially susceptible to “risks in certain regions,” which she said could “easily spill over” into others.
Against this backdrop, she said, the provision of maritime security systems and training, along with efforts to boost cybersecurity are ultimately aimed at “defending the foundation of regional prosperity.”
In their first meeting since September, the top diplomats also welcomed progress in their efforts to protect undersea cables across the region.
At the talks, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong announced Canberra’s launch of a project designed to ensure the “resilience” of cable networks that not only link the region with the rest of the world but also carry critical internet traffic.
While the move will boost regional connectivity, countries such as Japan, Australia and the U.S. are also partnering on such developments in the Pacific to “rein in China's involvement in undersea infrastructure and reduce the strategic vulnerability of such cables as a result of hybrid warfare,” said Jose Sousa-Santos, a Pacific security expert and associate professor of practice at New Zealand’s University of Canterbury.
The Quad is seen as an essential component of the United States’ Indo-Pacific strategy. Beijing, however, has criticized it as being part of Washington’s plans to build an “Asian NATO,” although the grouping is not merely a security partnership, with areas of cooperation also encompassing infrastructure, health and climate change.
The latest meeting, which took place only a day after a critical summit between the defense chiefs and top diplomats of Japan and the United States, comes as the group considers collaboration with like-minded countries.
Prior to the gathering, a U.S. official told reporters that South Korea has been discussed as a “potential future partner” for cooperation within issue-specific Quad working groups, adding that negotiations are ongoing.
The official also revealed that Quad partners already have regular talks with South Korean officials “about the work that we are doing within the Quad, as well as our minilateral and multilateral groupings.”
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